Shut out V.I. Raiders lose 54-0 to Okanagan
Sun in conference championship. PAGE 28
www.nanaimobulletin.com
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2015
VOL. 27, NO. 48
City manager resigns post I TED SWABEY takes new role as CAO of Maple Ridge. Corporate services manager also quits. BY TAMARA CUNNINGHAM THE NEWS BULLETIN
CHRIS BUSH/THE NEWS BULLETIN
Digging for clues
Alan Millbank, Nanaimo Fire Rescue fire prevention officer, digs through debris to find the cause of a fire that gutted a house at 844 Eaton St. Firefighters were called out shortly before 10 p.m. Thursday and found the house fully ablaze. The house had been abandoned and boarded up, but several people who’d taken up residence there were not home at the time of the fire. Investigators are still looking into the cause of the fire to determine whether it was suspicious in nature.
Ottawa armed robbery suspect found dead in Nanaimo A man wanted in connection to an Oct. 20 armed robbery in Ottawa has been found dead in Nanaimo. According to Nanaimo RCMP, the body of Peter Hoelke, 22, a suspect in an armed robbery of an Ottawa CIBC bank, was found in the Jordan Avenue
area, near the E&N Trail, late Friday afternoon. The identity was confirmed by the B.C. Coroner’s Service. Ottawa police had notified RCMP that Hoelke had flown to Nanaimo and landed Thursday. An investigation led
police, including the RCMP’s Vancouver Island E m e rg e n c y R e s p o n s e Team, to the Lost Lake Road area at about 8:30 a.m. Friday. Police blocked Lost Lake Road between Dewar Road and Laguna Way. RCMP searched a home
at about 4 p.m. and found no one in the residence, said Const. Gary O’Brien, Nanaimo RCMP spokesman. The locked down area has since been re-opened to the public. Foul play is not suspected in Hoelke’s death.
Huge challenges lie ahead for the City of Nanaimo, including a decision on the size and quality of its leadership team, according to city manager Ted Swabey, whose resignation was announced Friday. Swabey, who rose through the municipality’s ranks over 24 years to become city manager, quit to take over as chief administration officer at the City of Maple Ridge. His last day is Nov. 13. Two years ago, Swabey started his tenure with the largest restructuring at city hall in recent history. Two buyouts were offered and seven highlevel positions were axed as part of changes that led to a $1-million annual savings. He said in the later part of his career, and as city manager, his goal was to always challenge himself even if that meant looking at opportunities in larger communities and Maple Ridge resonated with him as a place full of growth. “That was one of the big tipping points for me. I am really aligned with a community that’s in growth and wants to do things,” he said, adding that Nanaimo is more in a state of transition, with politicians considering strategic priorities and what the public service will look like after a core review. He said this council has demonstrated its interest in investigating past decisions and service delivery and while there’s nothing wrong with that, it’s going to consume it for three years. When a community talks about what it did wrong more than what it’s going to do, it’s an environment of negativity and “it’s not the type of environment that I thrive in,” he said. Ian Howat, general manager of corporate services, also resigned after a decade in Nanaimo to take a CAO position at the City of Colwood. See ‘CHANGES’ /4
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